Friday 13
by flaminglake
Summary: The day is friday 13, the day of bad luck. All Will wants to do is avoid anything that could make his luck worse, but the world seems to be against him. Read and review.


**This friday was friday the 13th. We were in the gym while my teacher told us the rules of the game we were going to be playing when a black cat wandered in... Dun dun daaaa **

**It was such a cute kitty too! **

**Friday 13**

On the morning of Friday the 13th, Will woke feeling completely normal. He rolled out of bed, threw on some fresh clothes and tidied up his room, just in case Halt did one of his surprise inspections. Hanging on the wall was his calender. He ticked the box that marked the day and froze. Friday the 13th.

"Well, I'll just have to be extra careful today," Will said to himself.

When he had been living in the Ward, he'd heard all sorts of stories involving horrible accidents on friday the 13th. Martin, the proffessional storyteller told them. Sometimes, the characters were killed, other times they were cursed by witches or sorcerors. Always on that friday, Will was careful not to walk under ladders or anything else that might give him bad luck.

He quickly did his chores and made breakfast for himself and Halt.

"Not bad," Halt said, munching on a piece of bacon. "Your cookings improving, at least."

Will grinned.

"Shame your archery still needs more work," the older ranger added, before his apprentice could feel too pleased.

Will's smile faded a little, but he knew by now not to take such comments personally.

"Anyway, I'm going to discuss a despatch with the baron, so I want you practising hard while I'm gone. You know the drill, never fire at the same target twice and don't let more than five seconds pass between each shot," Halt instructed him.

"Yes, Halt," Will said obediantly.

He washed the dishes in the stream, then set up the targets and grabbed his recurve bow. He was halfway through the second set when he heard the noise.

A slight rustling in the bushes alerted him to somethings presence. He lowered the bow.

"Who's there?" he called. There was no reply.

Probably just an animal of some sort, Will thought. Still, it was friday the 13th, so one could never be sure.

"Come out where I can see you," he said, raising the bow in that direction.

Whoever, or whatever, was hiding in the bushes didn't come out. Will hesitated, then walked over to where he'd heard the noise. He pushed a large, slightly prickly bush out the way so he could see the creature.

A small black cat gazed up at him. Will swallowed nervously. It wasn't just an ordinary cat. It was completely, pitch black, with no other colour on it at all, except for the inside of it's ears and it's nose. It's eyes locked on his, bright green and mysterious.

Will released the bush, letting it fall back to it's natural position. So much for not inviting bad luck. He'd not only seen a black cat, he'd threatened one.

He wasn't staying in the clearing a moment longer. Not with that cat around. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Halt that was the reason, he'd have to think up something better than that.

To leave was risking Halt's wrath. Still, friday the 13th was a day of evil and something was surely to go badly wrong if he practised so close to the cat.

He retreived his arrows and returned to the cabin. He stood awkwardly, not sure what to do next. He wasn't looking forward to when Halt returned. Well, maybe he could put the grizzled ranger in a good mood by doing the housework really well.

He took all of the pots and pans down to the stream and gave them a scouring. Then, when they gleamed, he took them back and started polishing the cutlery. Glasses were next. He watched his reflection as he worked, determined not to stop until it was crystal clear.

Suddenly, the door flew open. The glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. Will stared in horror at the shards of glass. It wasn't quite a mirror, but did it count as one if he could see his reflection in it?

"What are you doing?" Halt said in a low, angry voice. Will spun around, almost flinching at the look in his mentors eyes.

"Er, polishing the glasses," he said weakly. "But I didn't hear you, so you took me by surprise when you came in and I dropped one."

"And why aren't you practising your archery?"

"Well...that's because..." Will struggled desperately to think of a reason.

"Are you alright?" Halt asked, looking concerned.

"I don't feel very good, I think I'm sick," Will said. He felt terribly guilty at the lie, but it was all he could think of.

"Alright, clean this mess up, then go lie down for a little while," Halt ordered.

Will quickly did as he was told. When the glass was all cleaned up, he flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Hoo hoo,"

Will glanced around. A large, tawny coloured owl landed on his window sill and blinked it's huge eyes at him.

"No, no, go away!" Will cried, waving his arms around. The owl, looking rather startles, flew off.

He swallowed. Things were getting serious. If you saw an owl at day, it meant bad luck and death would come to you.

"I can't believe this," he said. "The world is aspiring against me!"

He sighed. Not only that, but the lie he'd told his mentor was starting to nag at him. He should have at least told the truth, Halt deserved that much after all he'd done for Will.

"But I can't tell him, he'll be angry," Will said to himself. "But if I don't tell him and he finds out, he'll be even more angry at me."

"Maybe, you should just tell him, then," a sarcastic voice said from the doorway.

Will glanced around guiltily.

"Your not sick, then?" Halt asked, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"Er, no," Will said, shamefaced.

"Then what is the problem?" Halt's voice was very quiet, which was a danger sign.

"See, the thing is," Will hesitated, realised there was no way out of the situation, and took the plunge. "It's friday the 13th today, so we have to watch out for bad luck. Only, there was a cat out in the clearing-"

"A cat," Halt repeated in a flat voice.

"A black cat," Will corrected weakly. "And then-"

"You stopped practising because of a cat," Halt said, his eyebrows dropping lower over his eyes.

"Ah,actually I might go practise some more," Will said sheepishly.

"I think that's a good idea," Halt said.

So, Will took his bow back to the clearing, tried not to think of the cat, and kept practising. Everything was fine until Halt came to get him for dinner.

The ranger walked so silently, Will couldn't hear him approaching.

"Dinner time, Will," the senior ranger said.

His voice took Will by surprise, and he snatched as he released, causing his arrow to miss the tree he was aiming at by several metres.

"Yes, I can see your shooting still needs work," Halt said sagely.

Will's ears reddened in embarrassment. He was reaching into his quiver for another arrow, to show his mentor he could shoot well, but Halt stopped him.

"That's enough for now, come inside for dinner. You're lucky, I made it today, but tommorow, you will."

"Yes, Halt," Will said.

"Get your arrows," Halt told him.

Will did so. He had to search for a moment, to find the arrow that had flown off course. When he did, he was stricken with horror.

Skewered on the arrow, was a sparrow. Sparrows were thought to carry the souls of the dead and it brought bad luck to kill one. Horrified, Will pulled the bird off his arrow and laid it down in the undergrowth.

He walked back to the cabin, still waiting for something terrible to happen after all that bad luck he had been given, but nothing did.

He and Halt ate their dinner in silence. Will was usually the one who talked, and he didn't feel like a conversation after all that had happened.

He reached for the salt, still absorbed in his thoughts.

He knocked it and it tipped over, spilling white salt onto the table. Will stared at it in dismay.

"You aren't still worried about you friday the 13th thing, are you?" Halt asked.

Will looked up at his mentor. "I saw a black cat, sort of broke a mirror, an owl landed on my windowsill, then I killed a sparrow and now I've spilled the salt!"

"You killed a sparrow?" Halt frowned. "Why?"

"It was an accident!" Will said.

Halt shook his head wearily. "Apprentices," he muttered under his breath.

"Just grab a pinch of the salt," Halt said, "And throw it over your shoulder."

Will did so.

"There, now all your bad luck had gone away."

"Really?" Will asked.

"Really," Halt said.

Of course, in the years to come, Halt would remember that friday and have a good laugh at his apprentice.

**The end :)**

**Ah, OOC much anyone? Lol, I do seem to write OOC a lot. Oh well. **

**IF YOU REVIEW, YOU WILL HAVE GOOD LUCK FOREVERMORE!**


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